Pierre Poilievre is the last major party leader to unveil a costed platform

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is the last major party leader to unveil a costed platform ahead of the upcoming election, with his announcement expected shortly.

Despite ongoing campaign efforts and millions of advance votes already cast, Poilievre has yet to provide a detailed outline of his proposed multibillion-dollar commitments and how he plans to fund them. During a campaign stop at Tandoori Kona Restaurant in Richmond, B.C., on Saturday, Poilievre stated that Canadians are already familiar with "95 percent" of his government's intentions, having shared various policies throughout the campaign. He assured that his full platform will be released "soon," joining Liberal Leader Mark Carney and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who revealed their plans over the weekend. "We need change, and Conservatives will deliver that change through our platform," Poilievre declared.

He criticized Carney for making significant spending promises on housing, infrastructure, and military initiatives, labeling them "shocking." While Singh introduced his party's costed platform on Saturday, Poilievre spoke about his strategy to address the fentanyl crisis but provided limited specifics on funding, including a proposed middle-class tax cut anticipated to reduce federal revenues by approximately $14 billion annually, according to initial estimates. Poilievre's tax cut is reportedly more generous than Carney's, potentially saving the average worker around $900 a year, but it also carries a higher price tag.

As part of financing his agenda, Poilievre has pledged to defund the CBC—while preserving its French-language service, Radio-Canada—projecting savings of less than $1 billion annually against a $1.5 billion parliament budget for both branches last year. Additionally, he plans to reduce foreign aid spending, which the government assigned about $5.6 billion for last year, focusing on development, peace, and security programming.
The Conservative leader also aims to generate $1 billion in new tax revenue by cracking down on Canadians using offshore tax havens. Meanwhile, Carney's platform proposes $130 billion in new initiatives over four years, which, alongside existing expenditures, could increase the federal debt by $225 billion. However, even with plans to eliminate the English public broadcaster, target tax havens, and halt all forms of foreign aid, Poilievre's proposals may still prove inadequate to fund his tax cut or other commitments like raising defense spending to two percent of GDP by 2030 and removing the GST on new home purchases. His GST plan is estimated to be more costly than Carney's, which only relieves first-time homebuyers from the sales tax. To address potential budget shortfalls, Poilievre, like Carney, has suggested placing caps on government spending.

He has previously committed to a "dollar for dollar" rule, mandating that every new dollar spent by the federal government must be offset by cuts elsewhere, though the specifics of these cuts remain unclear. "The choice here is whether you prefer more Liberal debt, higher taxes, and increased inflation on housing, or a Conservative government that prioritizes cost reductions, spending cuts, and greater affordability," he articulated. Poilievre has criticized the Liberals for running expansive deficits during the post-COVID era, a trend he claims Carney will perpetuate as he seeks increased spending to support the economy in light of challenges like the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump.
When questioned about restoring a balanced budget, Poilievre remained vague, indicating, "we're going to bring the deficit down." The Liberal agenda outlines $35.2 billion in new spending for the upcoming year and $129 billion in new financial measures, including tax cuts, over the next four years, largely focused on infrastructure developments in defense, housing, and trade. In contrast, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has introduced a platform projecting a $48 billion net increase to the federal deficit over four years, alongside significant revenue from a proposed tax on the wealthy.